Tribes and Bands of Ohio

The Ohio Territory had been occupied by the Erie’s, which had become virtually extinct after battling with the Iroquois (1650). Many other Native American tribes relocated in Ohio Territory due to the large influx of European colonies that increasingly spread across their lands.

There were eight prominent tribes comprising the Ohio Territory.

The Chippewa and Ottawa came down from Ontario and the upper Great Lakes area.

The Iroquois Tribe was made up of an alliance of six tribes; the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, Seneca, and the Tuscarora. They drove off most of the other tribes to obtain more hunting and trapping territory.

The Miamis, migrated from Wisconsin lived in the valleys by the Miami River.

The Mingos name was given to a group of Mohawks, Cayugas, and Caughnawagas; they lived in the Southeast Ohio Territory.

The Wyandots, lived in the North West and originally came from Ontario.

The Delaware, Chippewa and Ottawa tribes could be found scattered throughout the Ohio country.

Tribe Recognized by the State of Ohio

United Remnant Band of the Shawnee Nation (also known as Shawnee Nation United Remnant Band)

Other Ohio Indian Tribes

The following list of American Indians who have lived in Ohio has been compiled from Hodge's Handbook of American Indians...[1] and from Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America[2]. Some may simply be variant spellings for the same tribe.

Agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs

Agencies and subagencies were created as administrative offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its predecessors. Their purpose was (and is) to manage Indian affairs with the tribes, to enforce policies, and to assist in maintaining the peace. The names and location of these agencies may have changed, but their purpose remained basically the same. Many of the records of genealogical value were created by these offices.

The following list of agencies that have operated or now exist in Ohio has been compiled from Hill's Office of Indian Affairs...[3], Hill's Guide to Records in the National Archives Relating to American Indians[4], and others.

Records

The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:

Reservations

From the mid-1800s, the official policy of the United States government toward the American Indian was to confine each tribe to a specific parcel of land called a reservation. Agencies were established on or near each reservation. A government representative, usually called an agent (or superintendent) was assigned to each agency. Their duties included maintaining the peace, making payments to the Native Americans based on the stipulations of the treaties with each tribe, and providing a means of communication between the native population and the federal government.

Sometimes, a single agency had jurisdiction over more than one reservation. And sometimes, if the tribal population and land area required it, an agency may have included sub-agencies.

The boundaries of reservations, over time, have changed. Usually, that means the reservations have been reduced in size. Sometimes, especially during the later policy of "termination," the official status of reservations was ended altogether.

The following list of reservations has been compiled from the National Atlas of the United States of America[5], the Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America[6], and other sources. Those reservations named in bold are current federally-recognized reservations, with their associated agency and tribe(s). Others have historically been associated with the state or are not currently recognized by the federal government.

Currently there are no federally-recognized reservations in Ohio.

Superintendency

Family History Library

McConnell, Michael Norman. A Country Between: the Upper Ohio Valley and Its Peoples, 1724-1774. (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1992.) At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 970.1 M134c A comprehensive history of Native Americans in the states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

Moorehead, Warren King. The Indian Tribes of Ohio Historically Considered: a Preliminary Paper. (New York, New York: AMS Press, 1983.) At various libraries (WorldCat); FHL book 970.1 M788m A reprint of a study done in 1899 by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications.

↑Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981. FHL book 970.1 H551g.)

↑National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.

↑Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.

Bibliography

American Indians: A Select Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications. Washington DC: National Archives Trust Fund Board, National Archives and Records Administration, 1998.

Gilbert, William Harlen, Jr. Surviving Indian Groups in the Eastern United States. Pp. 407-438 of the Smithsonian Report for 1948. Available online.

Hill, Edward E. (comp.). Guide to Records in the National Archives of the United States Relating to American Indians. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1981.

Historical Sketches for Jurisdictional and Subject Headings Used for the Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880. National Archives Microcopy T1105.

Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington D.C.:Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #30 1907. Available online.

Isaacs. Katherine M., editor. Omni Gazetteer of the United States of America. U.S. Data Sourcebook, Volume 11 Appendices, Bureau of Indian Affairs List of American Indian Reservations, Appendix E, Indian Reservations. Omnigraphics, Inc., 1991.

National Atlas of the United States of America -- Federal Lands and Indian Reservations Available online.

Preliminary Inventory No. 163: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Services. Available online

Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.